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Introducing: the UN Manual on Humanitarian Negotiations with Armed Groups
United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland said that he strongly urges all those engaged in negotiations with non-state armed groups to consult the manual in order to prepare and conduct the dialogue with these groups carefully.Every day, aid workers in the field are faced with situations that require some form of negotiations. These can include seeking agreements to access people in need, reaching an understanding on how to protect civilians or requesting safe passage and/or security guarantees for humanitarian operations. For humanitarian workers, therefore, negotiating successfully with all actors in situations of crisis or conflict is essential to be able to provide effective and timely humanitarian assistance and protection. To facilitate a structured approach to humanitarian negotiations, OCHA initiated, with the support of the Swiss Government, a project to develop a practical and user-friendly guide on negotiations with non-state armed groups for humanitarian, development and human rights workers. After research, extensive consultations with members of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and several field visits, OCHA has been able to produce both the manual and a companion set of field guidelines. "We envision that the manual and the companion set of guidelines will become essential guides for humanitarian practitioners in the field," said Egeland. Posted by: Seafarious 2006-03-24 |
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